Wig foundation or cap



y 1962 G. F. LINT wxc FOUNDATION OR CAP Filed Nov. 23, 1959 INVENTOR GewaZcZz'fle I'Lz'n? ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,046,999 WIG FOUNDATIGN OR CAP Geraldine F. Lint, 137 Pecirham Sh, Goldwater, Mich. Filed Nov. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 854,876 9 Claims. (Cl. 13254) The present invention relates broadly to wigs, and in its specific phases to wig caps or foundations upon which hair or the like, can be placed in the course of producing a finished wig.

In displaying wearing apparel in show windows and other areas of clothing and department stores, it is customary to make use of manikins. Wigs having hair of various types, shades and colors are applied to the manikins for better display of clothing, hats, et cetera, but the foundations or caps of the wigs used for this purpose are rather stiff, since they are practically always formed from heavily st-arched material formed to a predetermined head size while the starch is wet and then dried in the shape thus produced. It is therefore difi'icult to establish a suficiently secure fit of such Wigs on the smooth heads of the manikins to prevent them from creeping out of position, or even falling olf, particularly in show windows subjected to the rumbles and vibrations of passing trafiic. It was a recognition of this problem, and a lack of any satisfactory commercial solution to same, which led to the conception and development of the present invention.

Accordingly among the objects of the present invention is the overcoming of the above problem by so improving the wig foundation or cap that it will yieldably grip the manikin head and remain tenaciously in place.

Another object is to produce a wig cap or foundation which has a soft and somewhat elastic crown to facihtate self-gripping of a relatively smooth, had surfaced, manikin head.

Another object is to not only produce a wig cap or foundation with a soft and somewhat elastic crown, but also to provide such Wig cap or foundation with relatively hard and stiff side and back portions to which the crown is joined, and to provide such side and back portions with slits extending upward of the sides of same just back of the ear portion, or up the center of the back, or both, with such slits covered by an elastic strip fastened to the wig cap or foundation at a suitable distance on each side of the corresponding slit to allow some stretching of this elastic when the wig cap or foundation is both being fitted and when left in place on the manikin, to further facilitate making the finished wig stag in adjusted position.

Another object of the invention is to produce a wig cap or foundation such that the finished wig will fit and stay in place on manikin heads of different makes and which moderately vary in size even when the heads are supposedly of the same size, the elasticity of the present wig cap even making it possible to fit manikin heads over a somewhat wider range than a single head size.

A further object of the invention has been to provide a simple and inexpensive construction which may be expeditiously manufactured and supplied at a reasonable price.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and the following description setting forth in detail certain means for carrying out the invention, such disclosed means illustrating, however, but several of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly broken away, and

showing a preferred construction of the improved wig cap or foundation.

FIGURE 2 is a top view, partly broken away to show a construction detail.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are enlarged detail sections as taken on lines 33 and 4-4, respectively, of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 5 is a back view showing a modification.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detail section as taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

While preferences have been shown and will be rather specifically described, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the obvious spirit and scope of the invention as set forth.

A head-embracing body 10 is provided of relatively stiff textile material shaped to engage the sides and back of the head. This body 19 is formed from a coarsely woven heavily starche-d fabric material such as buckram which may be easily shaped over a form when wet and when dry will retain its shape.

A flexible and elastic crown 11 is provided to lie upon the top of the manikins head and is formed from a textile material such as jersey. The lower edge of the crown 11 overlaps and is secured to the upper edge of the body ill. The securing means is shown as stitching 12 but could well be cement, or both stitching and cement. Two plies of jersey are preferably employed to give greater resiliency and strength, with the front edge portions of these plies spot-cemented together at 13. The cement spots are spaced apart to "avoid interference with stretching of the crown 11 in fitting same on a manikins head or other wig receiving member.

In the form of construction shown in FIGURES l to 3, inclusive, each side portion of the body 10, in the behind-the-ear region thereof, is formed with a cut 14 extending from the lower edge thereof to a point near but spaced from the lower edge of the crown 11. An elastic web 15 spans the cut 14 and is cemented .at '16, FIGURE 3, to the body 10 at opposite sides of the cut 14 and in spaced relation with-said cut. The cuts 14 and webs 15, and the elastic crown ll, allow expansion of the cap as an aid when applying it to a manikins head and gives to the cap a self-contracting characteristic, causing it to snugly engage a moderate range of head sizes and remain tenaciously in place.

Two bendable stays 17, preferably in the form of a single wire, are applied to the temple portions of the body 10 at the front ends of the elastic webs 15, respectively; and two thin fabric coverings 18 extend over said stays, respectively. These coverings 18 may overlap the front ends of the elastic webs l5 and the side edge of the crown 11, and are cemented in place as seen at 19 in FIGURE 3. The temple portion of manikin heads are slightly hollowed, and by bending the central portion of the stays 1'7 inward, this helps in making the wig cap fit the manikins head better as Well as helping to stabilize the wig cap in use.

In FIGURES 5 and 6, a single cut or notch 20 in the back of the body It and a single elastic web 21 spanning said cut are employed, instead :of or in combination with the two cuts 14 and two webs 15 above described. This modification also gives expansibility and self-contractability to the Wig cap to permit easy application and to hold it in place after same has been fitted to a manikin or other wig receiving member.

While the construction above described has greater versatility of use and gripping power on manikin heads than any other wig cap or foundation of which I am aware, I have found that a special non-skid finish may be applied to the inner face of the Wig cap and still further improve the non-slipping characteristics desired of such article, and one such finish may be produced by lightly coating the inner face of the wig cap with latex or rubber cement.

'From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel provision has been disclosed for attaining the desired ends. However, attention is again invited to the possibility ofmaking variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as shown and described. Directional j terms such as side, back, upward, upper, lower,

' and front have been used to describe the wig cap or foundation in its normal position of use on a standing or sitting manikin, and are not to be considered as limiting on the invention since the manikin could be wearing ing a relatively stiff head-embracing body with open top, said body being shaped so as to solely engage the sides and back of said head, a flexible and elastic crown,

and means securing said elastic crown to the upper edge of the open top of said stifi body in position to lie upon the top of the head, said flexible and elastic crown making the front and top portions of said wig oap expansible and retractable to grip an appropriate size head to which said wig cap is fitted, said stifi body having at least one cut extending upwardly from its lower edge to a point near said flexible and elastic crown, and an elastic web spanning said out and secured to said stiif body at opposite sides of said cut, with the secured side edges of said web being spaced a suitable distance from said cut to allow the latter to be resiliently expanded and retracted; whereby the aforesaid elements coact in forming an expansible self-contracting cap to yieldably grip the head to which it is applied.

2. A structure as setforth in claim 1, in which said crown is formed from textilei fabric such as jersey.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 1, in which said crown is formed from textile fabric such asjersey, and

said stiif body is formed from a stifiened coarsely woven material such as buckram. 4. A structure as set forth in claim 1,. together with two stays extending toward said crown, said stays being on the temple portions of said stifi body respectively, and coverings cemented to said temple portions and extending over and anchoring said stays respectively to said stiff head-embracing body.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 1, in which there is a cut in each of the two side portionsof said stiff body, said cuts extending from the lower edge of said body a major portion of thedistance to said crown, and two elastic webs associated with said outs respectively to permit same to be spreadopen to a limited extent under retracting resistance of said elastic webs;

6. A structure as set forth in claim 1, in which only one cut and one elastic web are provided, said out and web being located at the back of said stifi body and 'extending from the bottom of same a major portion of the distance to said. crown.

7. A structure as set forth in claim 1, in which there is a cut in each of the two side portions of said stiff body, and two elastic webs associated with saidcuts respectively, two stays on and extending toward said crown over the temple portions of "said stiff body and disposed at the front ends of said elastic webs respectively, and two protective coverings cemented to said temple portions, at the front ends of said elastic webs and the adjacent portions of said flexible crown, said coverings extending over and anchoring said stays respectively.

8. A structure as set forth in claim 1, in which at least a portion of the inner face of the'wig cap is treated with a non-skid finish material to aid in stabilizing same in use on a manikins head. 3 r a 9. A wig cap for a head'shaped like that of a human being, said cap having a unitary, head-embracingbody portion with an open top, said body portion beingin the form of a coarsely woven and stifiened fabric material shaped so as to solely engage the sides and back of said head with front ends terminating substantially at i the temple portion'of said head, a flexible and elastic crown means secured to the upper edge of said body portion, said body portion being relatively stifi in comparison with said crown means which extends completely across from side to side of the top of said body portion so as to make the front and top portions of said wig capex-pansible and yet self-contracting across the top of said wig cap to gripan appropriate size' head when said Wig cap is fitted on said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France Feb. 1, 

